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Carbonara Sauce! No Cream and Ham Please- Episode 9

Walk in to way to many restaurants and pizza shops and ask for Carbonara and you will get a heaping bowl of creamy cheese sauce with ham mixed in. Now I have had this shameful version on a few occasions and it has been good only because well cheesy cream sauces can be awesome- However it is really Fake Alfredo sauce with ham thrown in- no difference(real Alfredo sauce does not have cream either..but that is another episode). The real Carbonara has no cream or ham but has Pancetta, eggs and cheese-YUMMY! Pancetta you say- Yup an Italian version of bacon that comes rolled, cured with salt, black pepper and sometimes nutmeg, garlic and hot pepper-NOT SMOKED.Can’t find Pancetta locally- no problem do a quick google search and a whole bunch of speciality shops will be happy to ship it to you. Bacon is not a substitute- however you can make a tasty dish with it. This is a fairly quick dish to make with the key being the slow render of the Pancetta fat- Hey some things in life require tasty fat-Besides me, Carbonara does also.

This looks great. I’ll have to keep an eye open for Pancetta. Looks like a great weeknight, quick meal.

Thanks again, Pat. Keep it coming.

JP

Good stuff Pat!! I’ve noticed that many restaurants use the more intesely flavored bacon instead of pancetta. I’ve never tried carbonara largely becauce others would say to me, ‘why don’t you order something better?’ I’m looking foward to making it after seeing how you made it.

TheDumbPhase

Pancetta makes anything taste good. Not a big Carbonara guy but might give this a try. Good stuff bud!

Gary

Found an awesome Italian deli yesterday. Grabbed some pancetta and other assorted sausages, cheeses, pastas, geez, desserts…..blew about $75 when all was said and done. Glad I just went in the “check it out” and didn’t have anything in particular in mind.

Anyway, grabbed a slab of pancetta and will try this recipe this week. Probably Tuesday. I got spicy pancetta thinking that would remove the need for the red pepper flakes.

Cheers

http://imakefunny.com kevin

Will try this myself. Love the beginning (your own twist on the word, Carbonara), I am known to make up my own words and my woman is always correcting me… “oh good Lord” great reply. I normally just say, “it’s all the same thing”. Lol!

TimF

Was that homemade pasta? You need to do an episode on that.

admin

I will do that for sure- That was not though- I will do one with the Kitched Aid pasta attachment and without

http://www.google.com KrisBelucci

I really liked this post. Can I copy it to my site? Thank you in advance.

admin

Be my guest- Glad you liked it

Gary

Pat,

Finally got around to making this dish tonight. Holy crap was it good. I bought a spicy pancetta, and it WAS spicy. Very good, but I will be doing this again with a regular pancetta.

Not sure what TimF is talking about when he says he wants Italian dishes. This IS Italian, and damn it is good.

Keep ‘em coming.

Gary

admin

Glad you liked it- I have not had a real spicy Pancetta- interesting I will have to seek one out- there are some dishes where I think that would be real good in- I got TimF covered with his Eye Talian dishes soon-

RedRum

That was ok but there is a bit more technique, in order to make the sauce creamy and for the eggs not to scramble. you need to add to the egg/cheese mix a bit of the pasta water to tamper the temperature of the mix, so the eggs do not curdle. The starch from the pasta water will also give the sauce creaminess. I saw your eggs were a bit scrambled…

admin

RedRum- excellent tip adding some of the pasta water to the eggs a little at a time will def. help prevent th eggs from scrambling- a few tablespoons should do it-Also I ground my cheese too large which kept it from incorporating completely in the final sauce-

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This site is a place where I will be sharing family recipes and preserving them. Nothing is worse than hearing of family recipes that have died off and with it a part of your family tradition. Also I will be creating some new recipes, trying out others, having fun and connecting with family and friends. There will be videos shot poorly and edited even worse. There will be some wine reviews also, please check back often and feel free to comment.

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Wine Reviews

2005 Bodegas Diaz Bayo Ribera del Duero Nuestro - Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero (8/15/2010)
very dark in color was a little shocked for some reason - nose attacked with some big blackberry jam and whiff of the 14.5% comes through with a touch of vanilla- The fruit attacks up front and would make you think this is a much younger wine. Great dark fruit - feel to thrown anyone in the description cause they are there. what seperates this from just being a fruit bomb is that it has secondary flavors baking spice and shaved pencil and the oak while present is not overbearing.

There is a bit of a bitterness on the finish and agree this is not a great wine to pair with food in general but I think some smoky bbq or chipotle pork dish at $18 I would re-buy this (90 pts.)

2007 Mockingbird Hill Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/12/2010)
very nice cabernet for under $15 - what makes this nice is that the fruit shines through - the nose is a big blueberry pie with a hint of alcohol followed by a beautiful up front fruit attack of cherry with a little pomegranite the mid range of this wine lacks depth and character and the finish rounds out with some tart cassis- what is surprising is that the finish with its in check oak actually lasts a while-going to save some and see if the mid pal rounds out later- nice wine that I would rebuy (87 pts.)

N.V. Ca' Furlan Cuvée Béatrice - Italy, Veneto (7/25/2010)
Really enjoyed this prosecco - color was a light straw color and the nose had some refreshing floral notes and almost a pineapple hint on the nose- I would call the a champagne drinkers prosecco in that is very low on the sweetness scale. This wines starts to change a lot as it warms up and you almost get some of the tropical flavors you would find in a Sauvignon Blanc -nice acidity on the finish- Have had 3 bottles so far and will be getting more for $10 this is a no brainer- Oh and it has a champagne type closure so you do not need a corkscrew like other prosecco's (89 pts.)

2009 Bodegas Ateca / Zabrin Calatayud Garnacha de Fuego Old Vines - Spain, Aragón, Calatayud (7/25/2010)
Another Jorge Ordonez wine that delivers in the sub $10 range- forget sub $10 paid $6.39 for it- I mean come on that is an outright steal - this wine checks in with somenice cherry/rasberry and a hint of the alcohol comes through - there is a pleasant easy drinking nature to this wine that we really enjoyed- the brightness of the fruit was met with a little backbone and its youth is clear on the finish which can show a touch of the 14.5% alcohol. This is a go to wine when you are looking at a Dolcetto or a beaujolais heck if you are a California bright fruit pinot noir drinker and can not find something under $20 to fit you needs for a daily - give this a whirl it may do well for you (86 pts.)

2008 X Winery White X - USA, California, North Coast (7/3/2010)
was very discouraged about the light color of this wine but this really came through with much more flavor than I thought- seems like the extra 4 months in bottle since others have reviewed it have allowed this wine to come together more- I honestly can not see anyone not enjoying this wine- from a wine geek to a novice- I will post my detailed notes a little later but this is a perfect summer party wine for $12 (88 pts.)

2008 Alexander Valley Vineyards Zinfandel Redemption - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley (7/3/2010)
only had one glass of this and it was very nice - some blueberry/plumb on the nose with a touch of spice- dark berry carried through on the taste and this is some nice cracked pepper notes- a little thin before the finish but that may have rounded out as it breathed a little more- very characteristic of Alexander Valley Vineyards with very vineyard driven wines- light touch by the winemaker- for $16-$17 will try another- (88 pts.)

2003 Toad Hollow Pinot Noir Eye of the Toad - USA, California, Sonoma County (7/20/2010)
Toad Hollow is a great spot to stop in at their tasting room in Healdsburg - fun wines and very easy going staff. Sadly this wine was past its prime - was not aweful but just not very interesting- nose was a little bit of floral and the taste was some muted strawberry- current score is not reflective of what this wine once was- Had a few bottles of this over the years and it was an easy drinking, food friendly wine which checked in at 11.5% alcohol - a once fine Rose' (84 pts.)

2007 Buehler Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley (7/3/2010)
dark fruits on the nose backed by a Hi-C brightness felt like I got a whiff of the alcohol on the nose also- but very vibrant nose- FYI this was in decanter fo 1 hour- taste carried through with the dark cherry, pipe tobacco and a little caramel- oak is clearly present but in balance - the only thing is the alcohol on this wine is way to noticeable on the finish at this point- and that rarely bothers me- the finish is the only thing keeping this from a 90 point wine for me as the fruit is very nice-I think this wine would pair very well with some gorgonzole or blue cheeses - At $20-$22 I would try this again for sure- (88 pts.)

2006 Tenuta Sette Ponti Crognolo Toscana IGT - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT (6/17/2010)
a 375 enjoyed with the wife so only could review based on 1 glass - went very will with grilled pizza-prosciutto topped- really an ideal wine in 375 format some nice cherry on the nose and a little with a hint of cocoa - carried a little earthyness and cherry with a touch of pencil shaving- enjoyed this an was really at 88 but the last few sips it seemed to be opening up a little more-have more bottles and will give some more air time- great food wine (89 pts.)

2006 Marietta Cellars Petite Sirah Alexander Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley (7/9/2010)
very dark wine - over ripe plum and blue berry on the nose- enjoyed the fruit of this wine though at times it felt a bit to the Hi-C side had a solid midpallet with a little baking spice mixed- solid tanin - For the price I would try another bottle of this I just felt this bottle was a little to "jammy" to me. This was in the decantor for 45 minutes- If the fruit mellowed this really could become a stellar bottle- next botle will tell if I buy a few to put away-I think many who enjoy big fruit wines will like this a lot- (88 pts.)